


Of Assassins and Green Giants

by ren (renegadewriter)



Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012), The Avengers - All Fandoms
Genre: Bruce is a Kicked Puppy, Clint isn't Being Helpful, Gen, Natasha Does Care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-25
Updated: 2012-07-25
Packaged: 2017-11-10 17:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/468831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/renegadewriter/pseuds/ren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natasha is avoiding Bruce, and he wants to make things right. Clint isn't being exactly helpful when Bruce asks him for advice. </p><p> </p><p>  <em>"Look, I know Agent Romanoff is… scared of me. Maybe even hates me, and I would really like to give her something that would make her feel safer here. This is supposed to be a place we can all let our guard down, not suffer through unwanted presences." Bruce ran a hand over his face. "Should I leave? Would that help?</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Assassins and Green Giants

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be for a prompt I saw on the LJ community [be_compromised ](http://be-compromised.livejournal.com/), but it kinda didn't turn out that way so... here it is!
> 
> Can also be found on [LJ](http://muse-refuge.livejournal.com/3419.html)

 

Bruce knew people were frightened of him. He knew it well, could feel it, see it in their stance and faces. There was rarely any effort on their part to hide it from him, and he accepted it as a natural, instinctive reaction toward the Other Guy. However, being on a team, with people he was supposed to trust made it a completely different thing.  

Each of the Avengers dealt with it differently. Thor thought he was a warrior that would occasionally be struck by the 'Warrior's Rage', making him some sort of Midgardian Berserker. The Asgardian prince didn't mind at all and even admired the ‘green warrior’s enthusiasm’ and ‘fighting prowess’. Steve was wary, not of _Bruce_ but of what the Other Guy could do to others, the destruction he could and would cause, but he wasn't afraid. Tony… was an idiot with no self-preservation. That man did not count, specially when he had casually shed his armor in front of the green giant. Bruce swore he had de-Hulked on will power and fear alone at that. Clint had taken one look at him, shrugged, and offered him a purple sharpie, even after having seen him transform. Bruce still wasn't sure what _that_ had been about. 

It had been… nice, not being feared, or haunted, having people that had his back and trusted him. Which was why, Natasha's avoidance and silent fear hurt. He didn't want his team, his _friends_ to fear him. Not that he could blame her. Bruce'd had nightmares, flashes of the Other Guy's memories about that day on the Helicarrier. Agent Romanoff had been terrified. An assassin she might have been, able to take down a number of armed men without a sweat but...the Other Guy was not simply another 'armed man'.

Bruce wanted to make things right, wanted to give Natasha some way, something, _anything_ to make her feel safe around him. He tried talking to her, but every time he so much as _thought_ about finding her, the agent seemed to disappear into thin air, sometimes for days at a time. It made him feel worse. 

Even during lunch with the others present, or debriefing he could never meet her eyes, ashamed of what he'd done. If he could only _talk_ to her… 

Which was why he was now standing in the entrance of the archery range, absently watching Agent Barton let loose one arrow after the other, trying to find a way to ask him for help without looking too desperate. 

"Hey doc, what can I do for you? Or are you here just to watch me?" Bruce was startled at being addressed so confidently, specially when the man hadn't even once looked back to see him. "Cause as flattering as that might be, you know I'm taken right?" Letting loose the last arrow of the day, Clint turned with a smirk. 

For a moment Bruce's mind came to a halt, spluttering and moving his hands nervously. 

"What? No! I… no! I'm not-"

"Geez doc, _relax_ I'm only joking." Clint approached the flustered doctor, bow in hand. 

"Interested in someone else." Bruce managed at last under his breath, feeling that he _had_ to specify. The _last_ thing he needed was Natasha killing him in his sleep. That would be very counterproductive. 

Clint's smirk widened into a full out shit-eating-grin.  

"Is it one Tony Stark?" 

Bruce turned beat red, feeling like Hulking-Out if only to avoid the subject. Hulk was a _great_ way to avoid a subject.   

Clint took Bruce's tomato face and lack of response as an affirmative and 'whooped'. "Called it!" 

"Clint, please. I'm trying to ask for some advice on an important matter." 

"Woah wait, please tell me you didn't come to ask how to woo fair- okay, not so fair- Iron Man's ticking heart, cause that's… weird." The archer winced. "I do not need those images in my head doc." 

Turning bright red again Bruce simply said what he came to ask, determined to make Clint _stop_ talking. "No, Clint. I need your advice on Natasha."

Clint rose an eyebrow. 

"I don't think she'd be up to a threesome with you guys, tempting as may be." 

"No! Jesus, Clint."

Barton rolled his eyes. "Seriously doc. relax. I'm just teasing you."

Fidgeting with his hands and looking everywhere but at Clint, Bruce took in a deep breath. "Look, I know Agent Romanoff is… scared of me. Maybe even hates me, and I would really like to give her something that would make her feel safer here. This is supposed to be a place we can all let our guard down, not suffer through unwanted presences." Bruce ran a hand over his face. "Should I leave? Would that help? I can-"

"Woah doc, slow down." Clint frowned, shifting from leg to leg. "First of all, she doesn't hate you."

"But she _does_ fear me."

"Well… sort of?" Clint licked his lips, feeling like he just kicked an already pretty much beaten up puppy from the way Bruce shoulders dropped and his face took on a depressed expression. "Look. Natasha's background… is really shady. She's suffered a lot. The way she coped with everything was putting herself in a position where she would always be in control. She's trained herself to be able and get passed any and all possible scenarios. As long as she has the upper hand, she can be herself, feel safe." He explained carefully. 

"But the… Other Guy, she can't control him." Bruce said softly. "That's why she fears him." 

"It's nothing personal, and you don't have to leave. Nat trusts you, she's just… cautious around the Hulk." Bruce gave him a small glare for the use of the nickname. 

"She never talks to me, and avoids me like a plague. I just want to do something that won't make her have to do that. I'll just… stay in my lab or something."

Clint gave an irritated sigh. "Bruce, she trusts you. Okay she may not be handling the not being able to handle the Other Guy pretty well, but she'll come around. Have you tried talking to her?"

"She's a ninja when that thought enters my head. Not even Jarvis has been able to pinpoint her location when I asked. I think that is making Jarvis twitchy, by the way." 

Scratching his head absently, Clint thought for a moment. He knew exactly why Natasha was avoiding the scientist, and it didn’t have much to do with fearing the Hulk. He didn't want to betray her trust, but he could see what this was doing to both of them, forming a rift where there shouldn't be. Bruce felt like shit for something he couldn't control, and Natasha was taking this too far. 

He was so sleeping on the couch for the next month, he just knew it. 

"Look, she's going to be on our floor in the kitchen tomorrow night. I leave for a mission, so she usually eats alone there. You can catch her then. Just be yourself, she appreciates honesty, even if she'll tell you you're an idiot for it, and… I don't know. Make a peace offering or something." He shook his head, not sure if that kind of advice would do any good. But they needed to start talking again. "Look when me and Nat fight we go to the gym and settle it with fists. I don't think you'll go for that."

Bruce looked slightly scandalized by that but quickly shook it off, only nodding solemnly. 

"Thanks Clint I-" He took a deep breath, determined. "I think I have the perfect peace offering." 

 

**000000000**

**  
**

Natasha scowled at her bowl of cereal. Not the best dinner, but she was unhappy Clint had left and had suddenly craved cereal, screw anyone that had a problem with that. Their kitchen had been built with the mind of an assassin. Windows large enough to let in enough light in the mornings, but in a way no sniper could get a shot at them, the table and chairs facing the large archway that led to other parts of their floor so no one could sneak up on them. She wasn't sure whether to feel worried about Stark having that kind of insight into how assassin liked to live, or grateful for the lengths he went to in order for them to feel more at home and, in his words, less twitchy.  

She decided to be grateful, hearing the elevator ping just outside her line of vision, frowning as Jarvis failed to inform her someone was approaching her floor. Momentarily concerned about a breach in security, she was reaching for a knife when Doctor Bruce Banner came into view. 

Both froze, Bruce standing awkwardly in the entrance, Natasha sitting on the stool at the table subtly studying him. 

"Um, hi." Bruce said, unsure. "May I come in?"

Natasha regarded him with an unreadable look before nodding to the chair across from her. 

"Sure."

Quickly crossing the kitchen, he took his seat, shifting nervously, licking his lips before getting right to the point of his visit. He could tell she was in no mood for small talk.  

"Look, Natasha I just-" He sighed. "I just wanted to apologize."

She lifted one elegant eyebrow at him, inquiringly. 

"For the Other Guy... the Helicarrier. I never meant... I didn't want to hurt you, or scare you, so… I'm sorry." 

He fell silent, and Natasha stared at him stoically.  

Gathering his courage, Bruce continued. "I don't know what to do to make things better. I know you avoid me because of what happened, and I'm sorry I made you do that. I'd leave so you'd have some peace, but I don't think I can. But, I _can_ give you this." Carefully, movements non-threatening, he reached into one of the pockets of his lab coat, gently, almost reverently placing a small, long black box on the counter between them. Natasha gave it an appraising look. It was roughly the size of a pen case. With one glance at Bruce, she took it in her hands, opening it, her eyes widening only to narrow at Bruce, gaze demanding.   

"What is this?" Inside, an injection laid prepared, a pale green liquid filled it to the brim.  

Licking his lips, Bruce explained. "It's a tranquilizer. Ross used it on me once as I was turning. Knocked me right out. I managed to replicate it. You don't… you don't have feel afraid in your own home so… whenever you feel threatened by me, you can use it." He raised his eyes until they met hers, full of determination. 

Natasha's face was a blank mask, gaze piercing and unyielding. For a moment, Bruce was confused at her cold front. He thought this would make everything better, make her feel in control, but she looked like he had offended her in some way.

"Nat-"

"I don't need this." Her sharp words were like needles. His skin prickled, the Other Guy shifting under his skin, ready to face what made his vessel nervous.  

"I- I thought you'd feel-"

"What?" She demanded, tone with just a hint of anger. 

"Safe."

They sat in silence once again, Bruce feeling the shimmering anger welling in Natasha slowly diminish, even if her outward appearance showed nothing but calculated calmness. 

"I can not accept this." She finally said. 

"But-"

"You are my teammate Bruce. This-" She held up the case making Bruce recoil slightly on reflex at its content. He saw her eyes narrow further, as if he had just proven a point. "This is a weapon against you. Something used to take you down, take control from you. I will not use it. Ever." She finished, slamming the case down on the counter. 

Bruce was at a loss. He hadn't expected her to refuse. If nothing else, he thought this, giving her the means to make sure he wouldn't hurt her or others would make her happy. He didn't except this… vehemence toward the tranquilizer, not on his behalf. 

He looked at her lost. "Then I don't know what to do. I don't know how to make this right, Natasha. What do you need me to do?" There was a slightly begging tone in his voice, but he was passed caring.

"Nothing." 

"What? I don't-"

"Nothing, Bruce." Natasha said forcefully. "I… appreciate the sentiment. But I have not been avoiding you out of fear."

Bruce looked at her confused. "I admit, I _was_ scared. But in that moment, before your mind was lost to the Other Guy, you looked back at me, and I saw _your_ fear. I saw how the change broke you, and I felt… ashamed, because I was the one that put you in that situation. I avoided you because I felt guilty."

Bruce lowered his head, eyes roaming every inch of the pristine counter, unsure what to say. 

"I'm the one that should have been trying to make _you_ feel safe. I'm the one that should have apologized first so, I'm sorry Bruce." Her eyes softened, a hand reaching out to cup his chin, making him look at her. "I'm sorry I got you involved, and that I went against my promise, but I don't regret the outcome, because now you have a family that will do anything to keep you safe." 

Licking his lips again, Bruce let out a breathless chuckle. "You don't have to-"

"I do. Please accept my apology." Her eyes bore into his, letting him see the truth in her words.  

Rubbing the back of his neck, Bruce felt the Other Guy ripple in something close to acceptance at her words, once again falling deep into his consciousness until Bruce barely felt him. 

"Okay." He said softly, before reaching over and pushing the case toward her once more. "Then please accept this."

"Bruce."

"You might not want to use it, but regardless, I would like you to have it. One day, maybe not out of fear, but one day you will need to use it. When that time comes, I would rather someone I trust bring the Other Guy down, than having missiles and other weapons of mass destruction shot at my face."

Their eyes met, one set pleading, the other understanding. Natasha took the case, fingers running over the hard cover, giving him a nod. 

Smiling back with a sigh of relief, Bruce felt a weight off his shoulders. Natasha might not like the thought of having to use the tranquilizer as a weapon, but he could also tell it put her at ease. He only hoped he had managed to patch up the gap that had appeared between them. 

"I should go." He said, getting up. She probably had a lot of think about, and Bruce didn’t want to do anything to damage the small victory he had managed today. 

"Dr. Banner."

Bruce turned, watching her as he stood and headed for the fridge. "Would you like to watch a movie with me? I have some beers." 

Blinking in surprise, he smiled. "I would love to."

Maybe, just maybe everything would be alright.

 

**FIN**


End file.
